Three Moments in Time
by SpeedBump
Summary: language alert!...:) like 4 or 5 words! come on!...:) anyways, two important scenes between Harry and Ginny lead to the third, MUCH more important one...:):) which leads to...well, read and find out!:):)


Well….and so….I need to write another story, because I am bored….J isn't that a good reason?.. . Well, if you must know….it rained today….which makes me feel all authory…J for some reason….it doesn't make sense…but that's not the point!….the point is that this 5th book that is coming out…will prove my theory that FUTURE fraternizations between Ginny and Harry are not only INEVITABLE, they are NECESSARY for my continued interest in this novel series!…..….oh who am I kidding….J….anyways…….. Ginny, Harry, what more do you need to know?…..  
  
I just want y'all all to know that in deference to our younger readers, heck and arse have both been replaced in this story with different terminology…J (ßsarcasm….you'll see…J)  
  
Ginny sighed out at the rain dripping past her window. It was the Christmas holiday and Ron, Harry and Ginny had come to stay at the Burrow. Hermione went home to her family, which caused Ron to behave in a very moody fashion for the past two days. The rest of the family, with the exception of the twins, pretended not to notice. The twins were thankfully living in their own flat in Diagon Alley, and so had not been around for more than a meal or two. Harry had managed to tempt Ron out of his moonyness by keeping him busy with snowball fights and surprise ambushes and such. Ginny sighed again. She had long since gotten over her Harry-crush, or so she assumed. She hadn't the chance to tell, seeing as how she had barely seen him since her fateful first year. If that was what it took to get his attention, Ginny shivered, she didn't want his attention that badly. She sighed again and mentaly shook her head. She snapped her journal closed and slid off her bed.   
  
Downstairs she wandered into the empty kitchen. Mom and Dad had gone out to do some shopping, and Ron and Harry had disappeared outside. For once, one long moment, Ginny finally had the house to herself. There were no annoying brothers racing through the house, no angry mother yelling after them. Ginny sat down at the kitchen table and smiled out at the cold landscape behind the windows. Peace endured for a small, precious, moment in the Burrow.  
  
Then there was a loud whap from the front door, and Ginny sighed. She knew it had been too good to last. She sleepily went to the door and opened it. No one was there. Ginny frowned and was about to return to her warm, empty kitchen when she was caught on the side of her head by a snowball. She yelped and scrubbed the cold, wet snow out of her ear, as her unseen assaliant chuckled. Ginny fumed and slammed the door, made furiously for her coat and boots, thought better of it and opened the door again.   
  
"I promise, whoever you are, Hell WILL be paid with you ass!" There was a small silence and then her attacker began to laugh uproariously. Ginny gritted her teeth and slammed the door once again as she made for her coat, hat, and boots.  
  
  
Five minutes later Ginny stomped towards the clump of trees that had guarded her attacker, her breath steaming from her nose. She found only trampled snow and boot prints leading away from the house towards the surrounding wood. The chill wind whipped her as she paused to look up at the stars which were shining down cold and bright from their fathomless depths. The snow covered treetops loomed darkly above her and she felt like a child, alone in the large silent world. She stood there for a long cold moment (why do all my characters end up staring at the stars and such???….I think I'm a romantic…J) watching her breath escape above her in little puffs as snow began to fall gently, drifting to the ground in large, wet flakes, and the gap in the clouds closed over and the moon and stars were shrouded once again. Ginny stood for a moment longer, her lips parted, and neck exposed to the chill air and then with a sudden, stingy, icy, *Thwap!* her reverie was cut short. Ginny scraped ice off her cheek as she whirled to her right where she had caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye and saw Harry Potter, the boy who lived, grinning evily and sneaking away behind a bush. Ginny paused only a moment as a flash of hot anger and disbelief surged in her chest and with a strangled yell, she charged. Harry looked up at her, whooped, and fled. Ginny gave hot pursuit.  
  
"Harry Potter! You're gonna pay!!!" She ground out between clenched teeth as she ran. Harry laughed back over his shoulder at her and twisted aside to avoid a large oak. Ginny ground her teeth against the heat which flared in her cheeks and chest and pelted after him.   
  
And so, away they raced, dodging through the tall, silent, trees, and a new layer of snow fell in their departed footsteps.   
  
  
Ginny wrinkled her nose. She had lost Harry about 10 minuets ago when he dodged down a secret path through a jumble of bushes. She had found his track though, she was sure they were his, she could tell by the way the toes turned inward. She followed them around the corner of her house to where they led, the back door. Ginny paused and regarded the discarded boots on the back stoop carefully. Harry's were there, among the jumble of the rest of the Weasly's. It appeared as though her mother and father had returned along with all her brothers. Ginny meditated on the meaning of this for a moment then calmly stooped down and scraped together a snowball and entered the house.   
  
  
Harry Potter was leaning forward from his seat at the end of the table, his back to the door, engrossed in conversation as the bright warm light of the household's kitchen shone down on his hair and skin. Ginny paused a moment at the entrance to the kitchen and gathered in the sight of her entire family crowded around the table laughing and talking. She smiled, it was good to see them all together again, and she almost hated to disrupt the happy gathering, but as the dripping snow in her hand reminded her, time was short. Ginny bit her lip against laughing as she noticed that her quarry was still unawares of her arrival, and quickly, before she could loose her nerve she dashed forward, yanked on one of his belt loops, and stuffed her snowball down the back of his pants. Harry yelped and shot up, turning as he did to face Ginny. Ginny met his amazed gaze and grinned a wonderful, slow, arrogant grin. Silence fell around the table as Harry remained froze, gazing at Ginny. Mrs. Weasly finally broke it  
  
"Ginny, what in the-?" she cut off as Ginny surveyed the table with an ever-growing grin, her face positively glowing, her cheeks and nose and ears shining rosily in the warmth of the kitchen. She glanced back at Harry, bit her lip again and dashed back out of the kitchen, this time with Harry in full pursuit, leaving the Weasly family in pandemonium.   
  
She dashed up the stairs, shedding her extra clothing as she went and she could hear Harry's thudding footsteps below her and she couldn't keep the giggles from escaping, even as she tore around the corner and skidded into her room and locked the door. She collapsed laughing on her bed as Harry pounded up the last few steps and banged on her door.   
  
"Go away!" She yelled.  
  
"NO!" Harry called back.  
  
Ginny smothered giggles in her pillow and made her way to the door. She braced herself and slipped her door open an inch, just enough to look out with one eye. Harry stood, arms crossed, and odd mixture of laughter and embarrassment on his features. Ginny shivered as she met his eyes and she smiled.   
  
"It would appear, " Ginny said quietly, cocking her eyebrow ironicly. "that Hell has indeed been paid with your ass." on that note, Ginny's door clicked shut and locked, and she would not open it again for the rest of the night.   
  
Harry hollered through the wood on his way to the bathroom later that evening,   
  
"You just wait! I'll get you yet!" Ginny smiled to herself and continued writing in her journal.  
  
  
And so began a tenuous friendship between the Weasly's youngest daughter, and the Boy who Lived! (A/N:…because the author is tired, and has nothing planned to illustarte this fact, she will proceed to tell you rather than show you this….can you deal with THAT?…meet the parents…JJJJ ) It was not a deep friendship. They spoke rarely, but an ease developed between them, one that was appropriate for the friend of an older brother to have with a sibling of a well known family…sometimes, when Harry had had enough of observing the endless fighting that was Ron and Hermione's "relationship," he and Ginny, along with the twins, conspired against them to force declarations of love from their stubborn friends. They said hi in the hallways and did each other favors. When Ginny started in the healer's arts at Hogwarts, Harry turned to her to patch him up after Quiddach matches and whatever sort of devilment Malfoy cooked up for him and Ron. In return, Harry would help Ginny with her Transfiguration homework when Ron was busy or in a foul mood from tiffs with Hermione. Then, in Harry's seventh year, (A/N: yes, we're skipping ahead her…stay with me…J) there came……..THE WINTER DANCE!!!! (A/N: I'll pause here for you to shudder in horror…….JJ )   
  
Harry twiddled his thumbs and glanced across the common room at all the female figures. He had 3 weeks until the Winter Ball, and he was agonizing over who to ask. Of course he was gonna get a lot of attention over his choice, and he, for the life of him, had no idea who to chose. Of course he liked some of the girls in his year, the problem was that since he was a 7th year, all the potential dates were pretty much taken…they might not have been ACTUALLY asked, but everyone knew who was gonna ask them, and he didn't want to step on any toes. He felt the need to express this problem to his companions, Ron and Hermione, who were currently engrossed in an argument.  
  
"Crap. I can't get a date." Ron looked up.   
  
"For what?" He asked. Hermione glanced up from her Charms homework, glanced at Harry, and then at Ron, blushed pink and resumed scribbling on her parchment. Harry sighed.  
  
"The Winter Dance." Ron froze where he was. There was a palatable tension on the air. Harry ignored his and Hermione's reaction. "All the possible girls are either taken, or obviously about to be asked." Ron avoided Hermione's gaze and looked at Harry.   
  
"There's got to be some girl you fancy who's free." Harry shook his head sadly and watched the people in the common room. A flash of red caught his eye. He glanced over and saw Ginny seated in an armchair laughing with a friend. A sudden idea caught hold of him.   
  
"Ron." Ron glanced up. "What about Ginny?" Ron's face darkened perceptibly.   
  
"What about her?" His voice was careful and warning. Harry shrugged.   
  
"Can I ask her?" Ron frowned.   
  
"Why would you want to do that?" His voice was filled with warnings, but Harry hardly heard them.   
  
"She's safe. She's not gonna get carried away, I won't step on anyone's toes by asking her, and we'll have a good time." He muttered to himself. Ron frowned.   
  
"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea, Harry-" Hermione cut him off.   
  
"Of course it is. Let him ask her. Harry, I think you should ask her." Ron frowned at Hermione, but he didn't say anything. Harry took this as a yes and smiled to himself and looked back at Ginny where she sat laughing. He smiled again.   
  
  
  
Ginny sighed as she exited the Great Hall after dinner. She was tired. She heard a sudden and hushed voice hiss,   
  
"Ginny!" Bewildered, Ginny turned to see a very excited looking Hermione gesturing wilding at her from the shadows behind the door to the Great Hall. Ginny frowned and approached slowly. Evidently, this was not fast enough for Hermione who grabbed her arm and yanked her into the shadows with her. Ginny frowned at Hermione who was beaming at her.   
  
"What's going on?" Hermione grabbed her arms,   
  
"well-, Harry-, you-, but first-," Hermione was so excited she was having problems speaking. This occurred fairly frequently to her, most often in classes. Ginny raised her arms and stopped Hermione.  
  
"What? Slow down!!" Hermione took a deep breath and continued,  
  
"Harry's gonna ask you to Winter Dance." Ginny stared at Hermione.   
  
"Me?" she squeaked. Hermione nodded, bouncing up and down, simply beaming with satisfaction. All Ginny could go was stare. Hermione smiled again and hugged her tightly. Ginny, still lost in thought returned the embrace and Hermione pulled back, smiled again and whispered,  
  
"I have to go now, I can't keep Ron waiting, I just had to tell you as soon as I could." And with another beam she departed down the hall in a flurry of robes.   
  
  
Ginny stared at the stones in the wall for a long time. Harry Potter was going to ask her to Winter Dance. It was a fairytale she had dreamed of as a little girl. But she no longer was the girl, and she had lost her Harry-crush. Would she go with him? Should she go with him? What if she said no? Would she be the first girl to deny Harry Potter? She smiled to herself. It would, she reflected, be something to tell her grandchildren about, going to a dance with the boy who lived.   
  
  
Ginny drifted down the hall, still deep in thought.  
  
  
The next week was absolute hell for Ginny. Some one had started a rumor that her and Harry were going to Winter Dance together, even though she hadn't seen him since that day in the common room. Ginny strongly suspected Peeves, as Hermione was too nice to do anything so underhanded. Everywhere she went now, girls watched her with their eyes and whispered behind hands and Ginny knew what they were saying.   
  
"Can you believe he asked her?" Whenever she wasn't being watched in the hallways, Malfoy and his gang had picked up on the rumor and were taunting her constantly, jostling her, stealing her quills from her bag, and generally being a nusciance. Ginny wondered if they knew they were assholes. On Friday night, after a long week, Ginny roused herself from her deep, comfortable chair in the Common room and pulled on her heavy wool cloak and made her way outside, fastening the heavy silver fasteners (A/N: couldn't find a better word…JJ) as she went.   
  
The afternoon sun was bright on the cold snow, and the grounds were silent. Ginny smiled and hugged herself against the chill wind and wriggled her nose to keep it warm as she crunched her way to the lake. She stood for a moment in the lee of a huge ancient Chestnut tree and contemplated the frozen surface before her. With a sudden, stinging whap, the side of Ginny's vision exploded into cold white crystals (A/N: do I sound like someone who's never seen snow?....:D:D:D:D:D). She yelped in surprise and scraped the snow from her face. And there, for her to see, in full view, was Harry Potter, standing beside a tree, grinning widely, holding another snowball. Ginny glared.  
  
"Do you know what this past week has been like for me?" Harry's swift train of thought was evident on his face, as he realized that Ginny may in fact, be angry with him. For what, he did not know yet, but it was enough that he lowered his snowball and moved closer to her. Inwardly Ginny smiled.   
  
"What do you mean?" he asked bewilderedly (A/N: I have a horrible adverb affliction in which I just go around and stick -ly on the ends of verbs and call them words…J please forgively me!) Ginny crossed her arms and glared at him.   
  
"Well, if you haven't noticed," she hissed, "some one has gone around and spread a rumor that we're going to Winter Dance together." Harry raised his eyebrows and faltered for a moment.  
  
"Really?" his voice almost cracked. Ginny wanted to laugh and bit her lip. She watched his emotions play across his face. First shock at her anger, then doubt crept in, and she knew he wasn't going to ask. Part of her began to wail, the other watched impassionatly (A/N:...there is no known cure...:)) and then his face changed and his eyes flashed at her and he took a step closer as he drew himself up. "Is there something wrong with that?" Inwardly Ginny collapsed with laughter. Outwardly she gave him a stern glance.  
  
"Well, it's rather vexing, seeing as it's not true." her voice was much calmer than she felt. Harry took a deep breath and moved closer.   
  
"Well, here's the thing, Gin," He looked at her pleadingly and ran a hand through his hair distracted. Ginny tried to look forboding as that part of her stopped wailing and began beaming at everything within 20 miles. He was going to ask her. Harry continued, "I do need a date, and everyone else is already taken or about to be, and so I thought I'd ask you and we could just go have a good time..." He trailed off and stared at her, vulnerable and worried. Ginny studied him closely through narrowed eyes.   
  
"That's it then? You're just asking me out of convieniece?" her voice was dangerous. "Do you know what I've put up with this week just because people thought we were going to the dance?" Harry looked down and kicked at the snow underfoot. His snowball fell to the ground forgotten. Ginny smiled.  
  
"Well, I thought you did used to like me, and we are pretty well aquainted, so I thought-" He broke off as Ginny suddenly dove for the snowball. Harry's quick kick was too late and Ginny sprang away with the snowball in her hands, smiling triumphantly. Harry stared at her in shock.   
  
"Well, Mr. Potter, what did you expect? I do owe you one." She grinned and rolled the snowball between her gloves. Harry stared at her mournfully, and Ginny somehow found his green eyes very, very, .....distracting. She shivered, smiled impertantly at him and caught him full in the face with the snowball.   
  
  
While Harry reeled, Ginny fled and it was not long before Harry was crashing behind her and she felt giggles tearing out of her as she heard him closing and soon the back of her cloak was caught and she was restrained. Harry held each of her wrists as she wriggled.   
  
"Virginia Weasly," He panted. "you are, without a doubt, the strangest girl I have ever met." Ginny sighed and dropped her hands.   
  
"Are you trying to ask me to the Winter Dance, Harry?" Harry nodded. Ginny turned her head in thought. Harry was quiet for a moment and then he spoke,   
  
"Please? They all already think you are, it can't get any worse, and there's no one else, and we'd manage to have a good time, I promise! Please?" Ginny dipped her head at his pleading tone to hide her smile. She bit her lip and looked up at him, her head tipping back to meet his gaze. Harry frowned worridly into her eyes and looked very preoccupied and harried. Ginny bit the inside of her lip but smiled anyways. Harry's face lightened at her smile and she couldn't help it now, she grinned.   
  
"Then, I will go to Winter Dance with you, Harry Potter." Harry smiled and Ginny beamed.  
  
  
Once again, (A/N: the Author is lazy) the following events have been chosen NOT to be illustarted in this story, so let us just be at peace to know that they went to the Dance together, and Harry looked very handsome, and Ginny looked very pretty, and Ron managed to get his head out of his butt and asked Hermione before Neville did, and so they attended together as well. All went very well, and Harry made good on his promise that they would have a good time, even when Hermione and Ron had a tiff. They danced a little, talked a lot, and were generaly friendly in all ways, except at certain moments when Ginny didn't think Harry was looking, her gaze lingered on his face and when they danced and he looked at her she was glad of the dark lighting that she might fight a blush with none the wiser. Harry, for his part showed much of the same symptoms as Ginny, his gaze lingered on her far more frequently and longer than Ron would have liked, and he was very careful in the weeks after that Malfoy should say nothing nor bother Ginny in anyway if he could help it. And thus, they all graduated and went off their separate ways in the world, (A/N: except Ron and Hermione....they were joined at the hip for the rest of their life...:)) meeting only rarely with their hectic jobs. But once a year, they all arrived upon the Burrow for a large summer celebration. It was a good 8 years from her own graduation and little Virginia Weasly was a woman grown in her own right when during one such meeting at the Burrow, she......looked out the WINDOW!!....:) (A/N: Obviously not as good as my other lead-ins....:):):))   
  
  
Ginny sat on her bed and glanced around her old room. It seemed so tiny now. She wondered at the layer of dust that had covered her old school books and desk. She blew on the backs of them and uncovered the titles. One she recognized as her old diary. Intriuged, she pulled it out and opened it up to a random page.   
  
Dear Diary,   
  
I am horribly in love with Harry Potter. I barely even know him and I can't stop day dreaming about him! Just thinking about him, The Boy Who Lived, he's such a noble hero! ....  
  
She flipped a few pages....  
  
Dear Diary,  
Harry looked at me today!!!...  
  
She quickly flipped more pages towards the back.  
  
Dear Diary,   
I've tried not to love him, but he's just so.....  
  
Ginny shut the Diary with a snap and a sigh of exasperation. That was enough nostalgia for her. She had endured her Harry-crush for an inordinate amount of time, and she had been sure that it would never end, the blushing, the stumbling, the being struck generally blind, deaf and dumb whenever he was within fifty yards or so, but it had. Her clash with adventure had cured her handily of her crush, with only one mild reoccurance through the years, her sixth year Winter Dance. It had been a magical night, and Harry had been a perfect gentleman. Ginny argued with her mind that it was only normal that she should have a sudden resurgence of her long-forgotten feelings. But they had gradually faded over the rest of the year, and by his Graduation everything was normal between them again. She had dated, since she left Hogwarts, and she had fallen in love with others, and even though she wasn't seeing anyone now, she felt positive that she had left her Harry-crush far behind. Ginny took pride in her newfound strength as she stepped to her window to watch the dinner being set up. Her eyes wandered over the busy figures of her family bustling about and caught on one. He was bent, scooping up a ball one of Ron's daughters had pushed at him. His arms were exposed and the light flickered across their lengths as he gently rolled the ball back towards the toddler, Ginny noted the powerful angular shape of his back as he moved forward to scoop up the toddler and lift her high in the air. Ginny noticed both the strength of his broad palms and their gentleness as he deftly dandled the cackling child and swept her around in the air above him. And it was in that long, sudden moment, that Virginia Weasly suddenly noticed that the Boy who Lived was no longer a boy, and realized all she had ever wanted and dreamed and hoped for was contained in his being. She took a deep breath, unable to tear her eyes away.   
  
It was also that moment that Harry suddenly saw past the child in his hands to the figure in the window and he paused in his play, slowly lowering the child to the safety of his arms as he returned Ginny's gaze, captured, if possible, even more than she by the picture she presented.   
  
She was standing at her window, within the long arm of the sun, which set her hair alight, warmed the skin of her bare neck, and sparked in her eyes as she stared down at him with such an unfathomable expression that he was utterly trapped, but the sparks in her eyes warmed something in him and something that had been long dormant unfurled in his chest and emotions flooded him. He could make no movement until she blinked, drew her eyes down his figure, glanced at him one last time, blushed faintly, and took a long step back, out of the sun and out of his gaze.   
  
Harry stayed where he was for a few moments before the gurgling in his arms brought him back to his present and he smiled down at the child and turned back towards the tables where the family was setting up and Hermione was calling for her child.   
  
  
Ginny was strangely silent during the meal and kept her eyes down, not looking at anyone around her. Hermione smiled to herself and busied herself with her daughter's progress through her mashed potatoes.   
  
After the meal Hermione went to put her children down for a nap and Ginny followed, holding the youngest one who had crawled into her lap and fallen asleep against her, clutching a handfull of her robe. Ginny had tried hard not to feel Harry's eyes on her as she smiled down at the sleeping child in her lap, but against her will her eyes slid up under her brow and for a brief moment she met his piercing green gaze. She flushed wretchedly and instantly dropped her gaze, but she knew Hermione had seen.  
  
Ginny gently deposited her companion in the crib, slowly loosening her tight fist from her robes. She could feel Hermione's gaze on her as she bent and kissed the child lovingly before she straightened and met Hermione's eyes.   
  
"Alright." Her voice was soft but firm. "What do you want to talk to me about?" Hermione gave her a clouded glance and finished tucking her oldest in. She kissed her forehead and gestured to Ginny. They moved to the door and paused after Hermione turned off the light. Hermione smiled as she viewed her sleeping charges. It was the smile of a married woman. Ginny wistfully envied that smile. Hermione turned to her and smiled again, and Ginny was reminded of that day in her sixth year when Hermione hid behind the door to the Great Hall to tell her the great news.  
  
"I saw you two." Ginny raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Us two who?" She made her voice light, unassuming. Hermione rolled her eyes as they made their way down the hall towards the kitchen.   
  
"You have to tell him. You know he won't make a move unless you give him a sign." Ginny was thankfully saved from having to reply by the fact that they had entered the kitchen and Mrs. Weasly was bustling about. Hermione gave her one more knowing glance and dropped the subject as they started helping her clean up after supper.   
  
  
Ginny was sitting on the porch swing later that evening, staring out at the darkness around the house, listening to the chaos that was reigning inside as the happy families collided. She pulled her knees up and she didn't look up as some one opened the door and stepped outside. Ginny closed her eyes and tried to be invisible, tried to pretend that she was just a part of the bench, whoever it was would just walk by and not see her, but she knew who it was. It could only be one person, one person that smelled exactly like that. One person that sent her heart was racing and her mouth dry. She tried to pretend she nothing was wrong or different, but there was a warmth in her chest and an inability to swallow that compleatly ruined her facade. She caught her breath as a rush of air and a darkening behind her eyelids told her that her stranger was standing in front of her. There was a creak and whoever it was lowered himself into the swing with her. Ginny sighed and opened her eyes and found hers locked with very very....bright green eyes. They pulled her in and Ginny could not find a single thing to say to save her life. Harry smiled and Ginny was suddenly aware that she was blushing horribly and it was not something that the dim lighting hid. She pulled her eyes away and wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled them closer to her chest. Harry laid his arm on the back of the bench and looked out at the surrounding vegetation. Ginny tried with all her might not to stare at his hand by her legs,....and failed utterly. Harry glanced back at her and Ginny slowly detached her eyes from his hand and met his gaze a second time, and again the flush crept across her face. Harry smiled.   
  
"You've changed so much, Gin." Ginny shrugged and tried to loosen her tongue. The heat was back, and her heartbeat was fluttering. Harry looked at her through the falling gloom, and Ginny felt her throat constrict. Harry's bemused eyes took in her flushed cheeks and he gave her a small smile, one that exuded kindness and calm. Ginny swallowed and looked away. She spoke looking at the moon.  
  
"Yes." It was all she could manage. Harry frowned. His hand came up to rest on one of her knees. Ginny tried not to shrink away.   
  
"Is there something wrong Gin?" Ginny bit her lip hard enough to bring blood and smiled strainedly at him, careful to keep her eyes from his warm hand. She silently shook her head and stared at her hands in her lap. Harry wiggled her knee and dipped his head to catch her glance. "Come on Gin, I know I forgot your birthday this year, but-" Ginny glanced up swiftly at him at that and the look in her eyes cut him off. He raised his eyebrows and Ginny shook her head.   
  
"It's not something you did." Her voice was soft. Harry removed his hand and Ginny felt cold and lonely, but his eyes were burning holes in her.   
  
"Hey, remember when we had that snowball fight and you stuffed one down my pants?" His voice was light, and she knew he was trying to cheer her up. She graced him with a soft smile and said nothing. He continued. "What about that Winter Dance? I kept stepping on your toes." He wiggled her knee again and peered at her face. "Come on, I've already apologized for that." Ginny felt something building in the back of her throat. She opened her mouth to reply and instead of some smart remark she heard herself saying,   
  
"Fine, you wanna know what it is?" Harry raised his eyebrows and shrugged. Ginny swung her legs down and stood up. She paced the porch and finally leaned against the railing facing away from him. Her pulse was pounding in her ears and she felt faintly wobbly. "it's you." It was barely audible, but she must have said it, because Harry wasn't moving and she felt faintly panniky. She turned and looked at him although it pained her to do so. Harry raised his eyebrows again.   
  
"I thought you said it wasn't something I'd done?" He asked. Ginny shook her head.  
  
"It's not." She paused and searched for understanding. She found none, so she continued, clenching her hands tightly to keep them from trembling. "Let's see, I've known you a good sixteen years, Harry Potter, and this is the third time I'm fighting this persistant crush I have on you." She sighed and turned away from him again and looked at the moon. "No matter how many times I think I'm over it, no matter how many times I tell myself that you don't see me that way, every time I turn around, there you are." Ginny wiped away some silent tears and hoped her voice didn't shake. "It's getting very annoying." Harry chuckled from somewhere just behind her and to her right. Her pulse increased and she felt herself begin to babble. "Today all you did was pick up a child, and suddenly I'm tripping over rugs, choking on words, and blushing every time you look at me." her voice was soft and reverent. Harry's hand came to rest beside hers on the railing. He studied her profile.   
  
"You know, it might've helped, if you'd told me that clumsiness, silence, and flushing were you symptoms of love." Ginny's eyes flashed.   
  
"What? You needed more than that?" Her voice was soft, but it carried an edge.  
  
"Well, you know, I just thought you had a weird sickness." Harry smiled mischeviously. Ginny was silent for a long moment.   
  
"So that's it than?" She muttered. Harry looked up at her and straightened to match her. Her eyes were wounded, but there was a stronger exterior determined not to let it show. He smiled.   
  
"Not exactly." Ginny frowned.   
  
"What do you mean?" Harry reached out and tipped her chin up with his hand and gently kissed her. Ginny stilled and she could hear the blood racing in her temples, the breath bursting in her lungs as she instinctivly stepped closer to him and Harry's arms threaded through her own and everything began moving again, except this time, it was revolving around them. Ginny's could feel his breath on her cheek and the stubble against her skin and she felt her heart surge. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him compleately down to her in a manner that caused Harry to stumble forward as Ginny took several steps back and found herself backed up against the wooden porch piling with a bump. And with that bump Harry disengaged and gazed down at Ginny, a soft smile on his lips.   
  
"Virginia Weasly, you are the most interesting girl I know, and I would love to take you out some time." Ginny flushed a pleasant red and slowly removed her arms from around his neck and tried to find somewhere to look besides his eyes, but she couldn't help it. Harry smiled. "okay, a lot of times. Many. many, times." Ginny's beaming smile was his only response as she flushed yet again and her hands dug themselves into his loose robe and she pulled him back down to her.   
  
  
And so, they began, The Boy, now Man, who Lived, and The Girl who Loved him, and from that day on they were never again separated by neither distance nor mind. Even when Harry left his toenail clippings on the floor of the bathroom, and even when Ginny insisted on dragging him out to shop with her. And so all was well and ended well as well....:)   
  
The End!!!!  
  
  
It's INDEPENDENCE DAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE SAM! (It WAS Independence day when I started writing this, so….shhhhhhhhhh!J (y'all are lucky it's still the same month!)….J…lemme dig up some America quotes….  
  
"In our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either" --Mark Twain  
  
"England and America are two countries separated by the same language." --George Bernard Shaw  
  
"America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room. Every time it wags it's tail it knocks over a chair."   
--Arnold Toynbee….hmmmm…at least we're friendly….J and dogs are nice…J  
  
"Thus the metric system did not really catch on in the States, unless you count the increasing popularity of the nine-millimeter bullet." -- Dave Barry…J I love Dave Barry  
  
"America, thou half-brother of the world;   
With something good and bad of every land."   
  -- Philip James Bailey   
  
"Every time Europe looks across the Atlantic to see the American Eagle, it observes only the rear end of an ostrich."  -- H. G. Wells …J…we're mooning you!…J that sounds American..JJJ  
  
"Whoever wants to know the hearts and minds of America had better learn baseball."  -- Jacques Barzun …ain't that the truth?….I have a lecture about Cricket, but I won't go into it…J  
  
….the Portable Curmudgeon is not a place to go to look for quotes to feel good about your country…:D oooooooo….Texas quote:…  
  
"If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent out Texas and live in Hell." --Philip Sheridan….sounds like a Yankee to me!  
  
 "Texans? Oh yeah. Maines got it going with five "y'alls" in her first greeting to the crowd." Some Canadian newspaper article review of the Chick's concert... I'm not sure I could do that. FIVE!...dang...:)  
  
  
Okay….I'm done…J HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!…J go have a picnic! What are you doing inside reading fanfic? Be careful with those sparklers though….and NO ILLEGAL FIREWORKS!….well maybe just a few…but be SAFE! J 


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